Several shops provided free food and entertainment, such as the showing of recent Bond movie Casino Royale - complete with popcorn and ice cream - at the Myer department store in central Sydney.

If you think waiting in line for hours to buy a new game console is odd, what do you make of the BBC's report that some keen individuals began queuing outside London stores on Wednesday, well ahead of Friday's launch.

London police had expressed concern about the possibility of buyers being mugged, but "special measures" are said to be in place to protect customers at the Virgin store in Oxford Street, while other shops have dropped plans for midnight openings.

Once the initial fuss dies down, we will be able to see how sales of the PAL version of the PS3 stack up against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.{moscomment}